A revised plan for the Little Friends property in the Naperville Historic District has shifted from single-family and duplex homes to all townhouses to keep it financially viable while accommodating neighbors’ requests, the developer’s lawyer said.
Ram West Capital’s proposal, which calls for 47 units to be spread out in 12 buildings and three in the restored Kroehler mansion, heads to the Naperville Historic Preservation Commission Thursday.
Attorney Russ Whitaker said the new proposal complies with neighbors’ requests for a public park space, rear-loaded garages and use of the mansion as the development’s centerpiece.
“We’ve done those things, but in order to accomplish those things, we had to get some additional density,” he said.
The townhomes are expected to sell for just over $900,000 each, which is very different than from the initial proposal to build 10 single-family homes selling for about $1.1 million and 17 duplexes prices at about $725,000.
A representative for Naperville Preservation Inc., a group of historic preservation advocates who lobbied to save the old Nichols Library, said they remain concerned about the project.
“We appreciate the effort being made by Little Friends, the city of Naperville and the prospective developers. Any owner wants to get the highest possible price when selling property. But development should conform to the city’s own Historic Building Design and Resource Manual,” organization President Becky Simon said.
“The development should have less density, less height and greater setbacks than proposed,” she said. Naperville Preservation has posted a rendering of what they’d like to see built there on its Facebook page.
Whitaker said the question of density has been brought up on every project on which he’s worked. “I never hear anyone say we need more density,” he said.
“(What’s proposed) is a modern use. It unequivocally relates to and respects the form and architecture of the mansion,” he said.
Restoring the mansion will help it resemble what it originally looked like and will be reflected in the designs of the new townhomes, Whitaker said. Ram West is proposing 14 different exterior facade options to reduce monotony, city documents show.
The sale of the Little Friends property to Ram West hinges on plan approval by the Historic Preservation Commission this week. Without it, the nonprofit agency may need to forfeit its $450,000 incentive from the city to keep the Kroehler mansion from being demolished, Whitaker said.
Under Ram West’s plans, each of the 44 new construction townhomes would have two-car garages with two surface parking spaces on driveways. The three units in the renovated Kroehler mansion would have parking in a detached garage.
While city code requires 106 parking spaces for the development, Ram West’s plan calls for 192, city documents show.
More Top Picks Adhd Reading Comprehension Strategies That Work
The development will have access points off School Street and Franklin Avenue.
City Council approval of a conditional use permit and variances for lot area, front yard setbacks and maximum number of stories will be required in addition to approval from the Historic Preservation Commission.
Naperville city staff said in documents that it supports the conditional use request.
The Historic Preservation Commission will make a recommendation on the variance requests, which will then move on to the Planning and Zoning Commission and ultimately to the City Council for final action.
The preservation commissioner’s approval or denial of a certificate of appropriateness for the facade of the Kroehler mansion and the new townhome buildings will be final, unless the certificate is denied, at which point it can be appealed to the council.